Easy finishing optionsColorTone Aerosol Guitar Lacquer is an economical way for the beginner to apply a finish without elaborate setup or equipment. Only a few cans are needed to completely finish your ukulele.

Soprano Uke

I don't know what everyone else is complaining about, I thought this was a great kit. Instructions were easy to follow, parts and wood was milled okay. Everything lined up. It wasn't rocket science to put it all together. I did change a few things, like the fretboard, added cream binding and a better set of tuners. All in all, the uke is an awesome kit. Worth the money.

Nicely done!

This is a finely executed kit including mostly-excellent materials cut and shaped to fine tolerances. Though a few items seemed oddly cheesy to me, it's easy and inexpensive to upgrade components. Parts such as braces can be readily worked to lighter, finer forms if you want (I did) and have the experience and judgment not to compromise the integrity of the uke. I've made guitars from scratch and so know what I'm doing, and found this uke kit to be a sure, easy build, resulting is a really excellent instrument.

Uke No 3

This is my third build. Gradually acquiring more tools to make each one a little easier. I laminated the neck this time with Huon pine (As are the bindings and neck trims). I also built my own bridge to add a bit of style. How much fun can you have with these inexpensive kits? Each one you build you increase your skill level. Great work Stewmac. The quality of these finished ukes deserve a decent set of strings though.

A great kit

As many have stated here, it's a great kit. I agree. I also agree that you should take it slow. And do buy the video, it's money well spent. I built my kit in about 4 months, but it was my first time and I had never built an instrument before. Now I'm building from scratch and the things I learned during the building of the kit are serving me well.

needs 2 upgrades

I had a lot of fun, but highly recommend getting the video. The tension tuners were awful, and the strings not so good. Replaced these with geared tuners and real strings and it really improved the sound and playability. Had to lower the strings quite a bit. Great way to learn how to build a uke.

Blinged Up Soprano Uke Kit

Just finished my first music instrument which is the soprano kit with a bit of added bling and I'm thrilled with it. I used the kit for the complicated bits (that scare a first time builder like me ) such as the fret board and sides but customised it with a spruce sound board, paua purfling, mineritchi (Aussie Acacia) headstock overlay and bone nut and bridge. It is finished with truoil which was great to use. Very happy with how it turned out and am itching to get started on a scratch build but can't make up my mind if to make the sides and back out of wenge or mulga. A friend made the basic kit and the spruce adds a little bit of resonance and volume especially with Martin fluorocarbon strings. The DVD is worth the money. Go on, make one, you will love it.

Now this is what I call fun

I ordered and the kit arrived much faster than I thought it would. I started building the fixture (tool) to alighn the sides. I could not put it down. This was the most fun project to build. It has just the right amount of challenge to build a great Uke. I have since ordered parts to do a repair on an old Mandolin that got stored in an attic in Texas for many years. I love the fact that you can get the parts you want and they get them to you fast.
I make a suggestion (from one of my errors) check square of the blade on table saw before making the fixture. It needs to be real square, not 3 degrees off. (my oops)

Decent kit - should be improved

I bought one for a friend that gave up after bracing back and top. So I ended up building the kit for him. It was fun even for an experienced instrument maker and - after adding some inlay and lining - it also looks good. But IMHO this uke it is somewhat overbuilt, does not sound that good as it is. It would be a good thing either to mention in the instruction book that the top and back can be made thinner before bracing or supplying thinner top and backs. It tooks a lot of sanding to fix this on the completed soundbox and it is not an easy work for the beginner. Sounds good after that. Also it would be advisable to find a better and easier way to join the neck to the body and align it. It is really too tricky getting decent results with the system suggested in the instruction manual.